SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The father of a young soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan nearly 10 years ago spoke publicly about his son on Thursday for what he said is likely the last time.

James Anderson, whose son Jordan died in Afghanistan in 2007, speaks about the importance of remembering those who protect our freedom during a Remembrance Day ceremony at Sir John Franklin High School on Thursday morning. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo Cpl. Jordan Anderson was killed in Afghanistan on July 4, 2007 after the armoured vehicle he was travelling in struck an improvised explosive device.

"It's hard to think of ... the more than 100,000 men and women who died in the service of our country if you didn't know any of them," Yellowknife resident James Anderson told a crowd of students, teachers, cadets and military representatives at Sir John Franklin High School's Remembrance Day ceremony.

"I might not have thought about Canada's wars much either, except it's different now since we have a son that was killed."

Cpl. Jordan Anderson was 25 years old when he died alongside five other Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter southwest of Kandahar on July 4, 2007. The group had been travelling in an armoured vehicle when it hit an improvised explosive device.

Jordan was supposed to return home from Afghanistan a few weeks later.

"A representative of our military and a padre came to our door at 7 o'clock in the morning," Anderson said of how he and his family heard the news. "They didn't have to say anything. We knew then that our son died."

Jordan was born in Iqaluit and grew up in Inuvik, and "was really much like most of you," Anderson told students.

He got involved in community organizations and loved sports. He had three brothers, a wife and an extended family that he left behind.

Despite his parents' best attempts to dissuade him, Jordan joined the military without their knowledge at the age of 18, after completing just one year of university. He was part of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton, Alta., when he served in Afghanistan.

Although he eventually completed his university degree, his father said Jordan never made it to his graduation ceremony.

Last year, his mother Sheila Anderson served as the Northwest Territories' first Silver Cross Mother, and was responsible for laying a wreath at the national Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa in honour of all mothers who have lost children in conflict.

"Perhaps we sometimes don't think about the sacrifices of others because, well, war today just isn't the same," Anderson said.

Canada was part of the mission in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014 but people at home didn't have to work in factories to support the war effort like they did in the First or Second World War, he said.

Anderson said he remembers finding it difficult to relate to Remembrance Day when he was a student as well.

"But perhaps by thinking of one soldier, or one veteran - perhaps at Aven Manor just a few blocks from here . . . You'll find that people right here in Yellowknife put their lives at risk every day," he said.

"Freedom is not free," he added, challenging the crowd to take a moment to thank members of the police, the fire department and the armed forces who put themselves in danger to protect their communities.

Assistant principal Paul Bennett, who met Anderson years ago while working in Ulukhaktok, said he knew it was difficult for him to speak about his son Thursday.

When he called Anderson up to invite him to the school's ceremony this year, "I said: 'James, I'm going to ask if you would do something that I would not do,'" Bennett said.

He'd once heard his "powerful" story when he invited him to speak to elementary school students and parents at J.H. Sissons School when he was principal there.

"He reached everybody," Bennett said of that day. "I thought I would love to have our high school students hear this message as well."

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